Car windshields and even airplanes may now be safe from winter ice. The scientists from the University of Michigan have created a new spray-on ice repellant.
The researchers aim to keep different kinds of equipment from small freezers to huge oil rigs away from damages caused by ice. The new ice repellant was announced on Friday, as reported by Modern Readers.
"Researchers had been trying for years to dial down ice adhesion strength with chemistry, making more and more water-repellent surfaces," said University of Michigan researcher Kevin Golovin, a doctoral student in materials science and engineering. "We've discovered a new knob to turn, using physics to change the mechanics of how ice breaks free from a surface."
In their journal, "Science Advances," the scientist led by Golovin explained that the ice repellant causes ice to slide off from hard surfaces. The repellant is a thin, yet rubbery clear spray-on, and the team believes that its rubbery characteristics made it effective against ice, although rubbery surfaces do not really repel water.
Golovin stated that ice and glass require more force to pry once stuck together. However, there is a chemical phenomenon of interfacial cavitation if a solid material got stuck on a rubbery surface, requiring much less force in breaking the ice.
"Nobody had explored the idea that rubberiness can reduce ice adhesion," said Anish Tuteja, associate professor of materials science and engineering. "Ice is frozen water, so people assumed that ice-repelling surfaces had to also repel water. That was very limiting," New Day Post reported.
The new formula is way more durable compared to previous ice-phobic coatings. The new coating was able to stand against different lab tests such as peeling, salt spray corrosion, mechanical abrasion, hundreds of freeze-thaw cycles and high temperatures.
They also found that changing the smoothness and rubberiness of the coating may change its degree of durability and ice repellency. Softer surfaces are more ice-repellent but less durable. This flexibility allows them to create a wide variety of the ice-repellent needed for different applications.
